Matrix MGS style
by MiroFTW
Summary: [Cowritten with Master Chief] What if Neo never was the one, but in fact it was the man known as Solid Snake? This MGSMatrix crossover takes place between the end of Matrix Reloaded and before Metal Gear Solid 2. Will Snake live up to the title of the One
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: None of these characters belong to me. They are the creations that come from the brilliant minds of Hideo Kojima and the Wachowski brothers. Any characters with allusions to real life ones are just mere coincidences. None of this true. Contains Matrix and MGS Spoilers..._

What if Neo never was the "chosen one" but instead, Solid Snake? This is the story of what the Matrix would be like if Solid Snake was the actual chosen one. The story is M/MGS crossover that takes place before Metal Gear Solid 2 and after Matrix Reloaded.

_A Shipposan / Master Chief Featured presentation..._

It's rainy night on the Brooklyn Bridge. Not necessarily one of the best places on a night like this with the blowing winds and pounding rain.

A figure appears in the storm, the only one on the bridge. Cars pass him by, the coming and going of traffic has become unfazed despite the rain. He's walking in a slow pace, smoking a cigarette. He continues to smoke, letting the nicotine flow throughout his system. Satisfied, he throws it on the ground and stomps the butt with his left foot.

The stranger looks foward. His eyes made of pure determination. And then he sprints foward. The raincoat flies off the stranger and the man known as Solid Snake appears in the rain. He continues to run forward, never looking back and never breaking pace. After a moment, he comes to a halt. He looks over the bridge railing to find a tanker, slowly making its way through the New York harbor. The ex-FOX-Hound agent looks down at the tanker below, ready to jump off the bridge at any moment.

_Inspired by the works of Hideo Kojima and the Wachowski brothers..._

Suddenly his codec starts to ring.

**THE MATRIX (METAL GEAR STYLE)**

"Otacon," Snake said through his comlink, trying to find the caller. "Is that you?"

No response.

What the hell?

The codec went crazy for a moment, the numbers oh the frequency dial fluctuating rapidly so that no clear channel could be identified. After a moment of confusion, a connection had been made. The numbers, however, still continued to fluctuate. A voice rung in his hears, but not of Otacon's. It was someone else's.

"_The infamous SolidSnake. Alas we meet_."

"Who is this?" the Philanthropy agent hissed.

"_A fan of yours_."

Snake shook his head, setting his hands on the railing. Grey Fox was dead. And this was just a hoax. Snake set his mind back on the mission. As far as he was concerned, he had a job to do.

The mysterious caller continued. "_You're not going to find anything there, Snake. Metal Gear Rex was destroyed years ago-- you know it yourself. If it's about the rumours regarding a new Metal Gear, I have all the answers youre looking for_."

Snake halted in his movements.

"_Listen to my instructions and you will acquire all the information you will ever need to know_."

Snake grunted and spoke again."What are my guarentees that you're a man of your word?"

The voice laughed. "_There are none. There will be a black Mercedes pulling up next to you in approximately one minute. If you trust us, get in. If you don't continue what you were doing._" The transmission was cut and his codec returned to normal, the frequency now turned back to that of the one he tried calling Otacon earlier.

Snake was at a loss of words. The tanker continued to move foward, about to pass the bridge. If there was a decision to be made, it was now. To jump or not to jump. He backed off from the railing and instead, turned his gaze to the road, his eyes trying to find the black Mercedes. Traffic continued as usual.

"Otacon, did you get that last transmission?" Snake said, calling his old friend. He was itching to find out who had called him over the codec, but he knew that chances were, it must've been a burst transmission.

"_Couldn't trace it in time because the line was cut short_," Otacon replied. "_If only the person stayed on for two more seconds I would've gotten it the frequency_."

"Damnit" Snake shouted disgustedly. He bit back a curse.

"_So what are we going to do Snake_?" Otacon asked. At that moment, a Black Mercedes had pulled up in front of him, just as the mysterious caller had promised. Snake's attention focused on the vehicle. His eyes narrowed.

"I'm going in, Otacon." Snake cut the transmission and lifted his hand to open on the door.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

As he opened the door, a hand stretched out to greet him. A woman's hand. He took it, and instantly he was pulled in to the vehicle. The door closed and the Mercedes jolted foward. The momentary change in inertia threw Snake into the rear seat of the black Mercedes. He looked up, wiping the rain on his face.

In the vehicle were three other people. One was a driver, and the other two sat in the passenger compartment adjacent from him. He couldn't get a face on the driver, but he did make out the passengers. The person on his left was a woman around mid-twenties, with long slick black hair. The other passenger was a man of early thirties, had a fair dark complexion was bald.

What he found odd was that both wore shades, in this kind of weather and such.

The woman next to him took off her glasses, only to reveal a beautiful pair of blue eyes. Snake's gaze glanced downward, observing the woman's body. She wore some kind of exotic black attire, which accentuated her curves. Dirty thoughts swept across his mind, but he brushed it back as soon as the woman began to talk.

"You must be wondering why you're here," she said. "All your questions will be answered in due time. First, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Trinity." She offered a handshake.

Snake unholstered a gun, aiming it towards her forehead. However the figure beside her, baldy, had his own weapon trained on the Philanthropy agent equally as fast.

"Let's cut to the chase," Snake said, wanting to avoid conversation. "We're all here because of one reason: Metal Gear. Apparently you all know something about it that I don't. Make my life simple and let's not waste any more time."

Trinity sighed and thought for a moment before turning to the other figure. "What do you propose Morpheus?" she asked.

The other passenger, referred to as Morpheus, turned to Snake. Their eyes met, each holding a cold front. "What you are about to hear," Morpheus began, in an almost monotone voice. "is information of the truth. Once you hear the truth, however, there will be no turning back. Whether or not you accept this truth is irrelevant; you will be a part of it."

Confusion overtook Snake's mind. "What?"

Suddenly, the vehicle came to a screeching halt and Snake took a moment to hold himself in his seat so that he wasn't thrown foward.

"That's all going to have to hold for now," the driver said. "We got trouble in the front. Agent Smiths. A lot of them." Morpheus and Trinity turned around to see what the commotion was all about. Snake sat in his seat gazing through the front window, awestruck. In front of the Mercedes stood a row of people, all dressed in business suits and identical in every shape and form. Clones. Sort of.

What the hell's going on here?

"Why are we stopping?" Snake asked, quizzically. "We can run them over with no sweat in this thing."

Morpheus turned back to Snake. "No we can't," he said grimly.

The driver turned the car around as the clones started sprinting towards the Mercedes. Their amazing speed was displayed as the horde of them were catching up to the fleeing vehicle. Snake aimed his SOCOM at the back window and fired. Glass shattered and now he could see the numerous clones start to run towards them. Then he saw something he had never seen in his whole life: the agent dodged the bullet using some super speed.

Snake fired more rounds from his Socom but each shot completely missed the clones that ran after the Mercedes. Trinity turned to him. "That won't work on them," she said calmly. She picked up an assault rifle from the back trunk and started firing at the clones. The bullets pierced through the glass and poured into the crowd of clones but the clones stopped running and the bullets all seemed to hit the deck of the bridge.

Luckily for the Mercedes, they had managed to lose the agents. Snake turned to Trinity. "What the hell was that?"

Trinity grimaced. "That was an agent. Or should I say, agents."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3  
**

The ride continued in silence for a few minutes before Trinity's cell phone chimed.

"What is it?

"I don't know, something big is coming, and it's heading your way."

"Got it. Thanks, Operator"

Trinity looked at Morpheus then back at Solid Snake, who still gripped his SOCOM tightly.

Suddenly, the Mercedes screeched to an abrupt stop, something massive impeding their way. Snake's eyes narrowed at what he saw. He checked the SOCOM's chamber and examined the clip. This was his purpose, to stop the thing outside. He aimed at the Benz's sunroof and put a bullet through the glass and climbed onto the Benz's roof.

Trinity grabbed Snake.

"What the hell is that thing?"

Snake's grizzled voice answered back. "A heavily armored, nuclear equipped, walking battle-tank. Simply put..." He readied his SOCOM "...Metal Gear."

Snake leapt into action with a grunt, dashing off of the Mercedes when the slicing beam from Metal Gear's belly activated. Snake back-flipped aiming his SOCOM at the circular dish on Metal Gear Rex's left shoulder as he landed. He squeezed out an entire clip futilely, knowing the low caliber munitions would leave nothing but a scratch.

"Damn!"

Then an unfamiliar voice came over Metal Gear's loudspeaker. The voice had a condescending British accent, but it wasn't Liquid.

"Mister Hayter, I trust you fight along side these terrorists out of ignorance. It is for that, you are still alive."

"The name is Snake."

"So be it, Mister Hayter."

Suddenly an explosion rocked Metal Gear's cockpit. Snake glanced back to see Trinity hefting a rocket launcher. Snake's first guess: Stinger launcher.

He yelled. "Aim for the Radome!"

Behind Snake, before she could even ask: "what's a Radome?", 75 caliber slugs erupted from Rex's Vulcan cannons. Snake broke into a full sprint as the machine gun shots hit pavement behind him in his wake. He could hear the servos in Rex's legs moving. It was getting ready to launch its missiles. He had to disable Metal Gear now. Rocket smoke plumed from Rex's launcher pods and arched in towards the Benz. Morpheus leapt from the limo headfirst and came out of a roll holding an M4 Assault Carbine.

He fired at the incoming missiles, his shots reflected in his mirrored out sunglasses, and was rewarded with two explosions.

Trinity dropped the Stinger Launcher and began using the missiles as stepping-stones. She jumped from missile to missile with the grace of a grasshopper and pulled something out from under her coat. Snake didn't have time to see what it was. His job was to stop Metal Gear. And to do that, he needed a Stinger Launcher.

He managed to catch the falling launcher before it impacted with the ground. Instantly, he brought the Stinger Launcher in line with the Radome on Rex's left shoulder and fired without waiting for a lock-on. The Radome exploded magnificently. The cockpit opened and behind the controls, Snake saw one of the suited men the mysterious duo referred to as Agents. Snake watched in awe as the woman used the missiles as stairs to get her to the cockpit. He'd never seen anyone move like that since... since Grey Fox. Then Snake knew what she was up to.

He saw her smash the C-4 plastique on the edge of the cockpit.

She back-flipped high into the air, arms spread like a swan, almost as if moving in slow motion.

"Morpheus, Now!"

The black man called Morpheus, pulled a switch out and thumbed it.

An explosion overtook the cockpit, leaving Metal Gear Rex headless. But there were still missiles incoming; the missiles Trinity had hopped over. And they were heading straight for Snake.

Snake dropped the Stinger and tried to run, but the first missile had struck home. Followed by the second, and third. Snake was thrown into the air violently and when he came down, everything was blurry. His CODEC beeped. It was Otacon.

"Snake, come in. Snake, what's happening? Snake? SNAAAAAAAAAAKE!"

But it was to no avail. Snake's vision faded to white, sending him into unconsciousness.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 **

When Snake awoke, he felt abnormally weak. The last thing he remembered was the destruction of a Metal Gear Rex, before he woke up wherever he was. The previous days were cloudy, almost like a bad dream. And now, his entire body felt alien to him as if he'd never used his muscles a day in his life. He knew that wasn't true though. He was the best of the best, trained at birth to be an elite fighting machine. There was no way he should feel so week. His mind raced. He didn't know where he was. He only knew he was in an unfamiliar environment.

In his line of work, unfamiliar almost always meant hostile.

Snake rolled out of the makeshift cot, his calf muscles straining to hold himself up. He ran a hand over his bald head that was starting to stubble. He started to make his way to the entry hatch when the wheel turned suddenly and the black man from a few nights ago entered.

"I am Morpheus, Captain of the Nebuchadnezzar. Snake, I know you've got to be questioning why we," he paused ever so slightly, "why I've brought you here."

Snake grunted his response, "Don't give me this shit again. I know the Colonel is behind this."

"I insure you, Snake. This is no ploy."

"Well then what the hell is it?"

"Snake, I don't know where to begin. It isn't the year you remember it. Things aren't what they appeared to be at all. Follow me."

Wearily, Snake followed Morpheus through the belly of the hovercraft never letting his guard down. He didn't stay alive as long as he did by letting his guard down. Morpheus was pointing at random things throughout the ship, giving Snake a sort of tour, but Snake really wasn't listening. He was observing the surroundings, scanning for something; anything that would aid in an escape. This situation brought a whole new meaning to the term OSP (On-Site Procurement).

Snake's attention finally returned to Morpheus as Morpheus said, "and this is the command center. Now it's time to introduce you to the crew."

"Trinity," he pointed in Trinity's direction, "you know already."

Then a tall, slender man walked over. He had black hair and deep brown eyes. He was a little taller than Snake.

"This, Snake, is Neo."

Neo nodded succinctly.

"I know you've got a lot of questions, Snake. You will have answers shortly. Have a seat."

Morpheus beckoned Snake to one of the reclined seats in the large room. Snake sat, compliantly.

"This may hurt a bit."

- - -

The next thing Snake knew, he was back in his sneaking suit. He no longer was bald. He felt alive again. Everything around him was white, everything. He saw Morpheus walking towards him but he wasn't wearing the tattered clothes he wore mere minutes ago. Now he was wearing something similar to what he wore a few nights ago: a long black snake-skin coat, and fashionable slacks and shirt under it. He had the same mirrored out sunglasses as well.

"Snake, do you know what the Matrix is?"

"The Matrix? Yeah, I've heard it mentioned a few times before. It sounds like bullshit to me. The world is just one big VR Mission? I don't buy it."

Well buy it, because the Matrix is real. Look at yourself, Snake. Your sneaking suit, your hair, it's all back to the way it was, when just minutes ago you were wearing rags and were hairless."

Snake stayed silent for a moment.

"What year is it?"

"Somewhere near 3000 AD. We can't be certain."

"Fine. Mind telling me what exactly this Matrix is?"

"I'm sure in your world, Snake, there were movies in which an A.I. becomes self aware, leaving the human race to struggle for survival. Well, we've been struggling, Snake. The Matrix is, as you so eloquently put it, a big VR Mission. Only where you're used to it simulating combat situations, it simulates everyday life. There's another big difference, Snake."

Snake's gruff reply: "What's that?"

"No one knows it's a simulation, except for those who've been unplugged; you, me, Trinity, Neo, and a few others."

"So where are we now? This isn't the Matrix. Is it some kind of prompt?"

"In fact it is. This is where we go before we jack into the Matrix. We load up anything we need from here-- Guns, clothes, vehicles."

"A staging area."

"Exactly."

"Still sounds like bullshit."

Snake took a few steps back and began searching the infinite white.

"COLONEL! GODDAMN YOU CAMPBELL! SHOW YOURSELF YOU GUTLESS BASTARD!"

"Snake, calm down. Your Colonel has nothing to do with this."

Morpheus reached his right hand out slowly. Out of a blend of anger and instinct, Snake snatched Morpheus' hand and tried to compress his wrist. Too fast, Morpheus yanked away and instantly brought his left hand around for a sweeping crane attack. Snake ducked it narrowly and followed up with a powerful right uppercut, striking Morpheus in the jaw. Morpheus' glasses flew off of his face from the power of the impact. He jumped in the air, caught them on the way up, flipped end over end and landed fifteen feet behind Snake. He smiled as he rubbed his jaw.

"Who the hell are you?"

Morpheus continued smiling. "That's enough for today, Snake."

Everything went black again.

When Snake awoke, he was back on the Nebuchadnezzar, his body feeling rejuvenated and tired all at the same time.

The jack slid out of Snake's neck.

"You must be tired, Snake. Time to rest. You've got a big day tomorrow."

Snake staggered out of the chair to see Trinity and Neo looking at him in awe. He saw Morpheus still rubbing his chin. He referred to his cognitive map of the Nebuchadnezzar and made his way back to the makeshift cot. In moments, Snake drifted to sleep.

- - -

"Trinity, he is the One."

"No way, Morpheus. He can't be. He just can't."

She looked up at Neo with her big blue eyes.

"Trinity, he could be," Neo thought back to the confrontation with the Architect, "Maybe he's the successor of the One, and when the I chose to save you, he was still awaken anyway."

"No, it just can't be like that."

"Why are you so adamant, Trinity?"

"Because of what the Oracle told me."

Neo held her tightly.

"She does that, sometimes."

"So what do we do now?"

Neo looked at Morpheus.

"Tomorrow, training exercises. We see if Solid Snake, the man, can live up to Solid Snake, the legend."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 **

Solid Snake's eyes shot open. For the first time in days he'd felt alive. Just as he stood, Trinity entered his quarters.

"C'mon, Snake. We've got work to do."

Snake rubbed his hand over the stubble on his head and followed her. She lead him into the command room and guided him to a chair.

"Are you ready to learn kung fu?"

Snake snorted in return, "I don't need kung fu. Just start the damned training exercises."

He lay back in the chair and the jack slid into his neck sending his mind into the virtual construct.

- - -

Instantaneously, Snake was in a Japanese dojo, wearing his sneaking suit. Across from him was the man known as Morpheus wearing a karate gi.

"Snake, this, is a sparring program. It in itself is a simulation of the Matrix. Laws of gravity and physics apply here; just like in the real world—just like in the Matrix. Snake, I need you to show me something. Show me…"

Morpheus began walking toward Snake.

Snake's battle instinct took over. He could feel the adrenaline coursing through his body. He could sense his own body tightening up to attack and parry.

"…what you can do!"

Morpheus leapt in with a furious combo. Leading with a trio of right back-fists and following with a smashing elbow, he forced Snake back. Snake gathered himself and brought himself into a fighting stance, the best one he could mimic. He was never the most skilled at hand-to-hand combat, but he always managed to get the job done in the end. Only this time was different. He didn't know what it was he had to do. All he could do was fight, and that's what he did.

Snake threw a left punch, then a right punch, and then followed with a jumping, spinning back kick that caught Morpheus in the jaw.

Morpheus smiled as he rubbed his jaw gently.

"Good, Snake. Now really show me what you've got."

Morpheus walked in and took his fighting stance. He feinted both kicks and punches, forcing Snake to reinforce his defensive tactics. In his mind, Snake saw himself fighting the ghost of Grey Fox back on Shadow Moses. Now, like then, he was facing an opponent with greater mobility, greater strength and who was more skilled. But like then, Snake was going to find a way to win.

Morpheus feinted a kick, then followed through with a devastating uppercut, dropping Snake to the ground. Suddenly, Morpheus leapt into the air like a crane, arms spread and knees curled in under him. Snake rolled out of the way just in time, as Morpheus crashed down into the mat with his knee. Snake stood in the ready, waiting for Morpheus to attack. He knew that if he timed it right, Snake could take the upper hand in the fight.

- - -

"Trinity, look at the neural output readings. Snake is off the scale. As fast as I was."

Trinity looked at Snake's monitor and was in shock at what she saw.

"Neo," she paused, "he's faster."

Neither of them was ready for what was about to transpire next.

- - -

Morpheus and Snake traded blows back and forth, a primitive, yet graceful ballet of strike and parry, evade and maneuver. Morpheus leaned in with a powerful right hand thrust. With lightning quickness, Snake took Morpheus hand and channeled his momentum to propel him forward and down to the ground, all the while maintaining a grip on his hand. When Morpheus stood, Snake was nowhere in sight. Then he could feel the presence of the man known as Snake. It was too late.

Snake appeared suddenly behind Morpheus and grabbed his neck. One squeeze, two squeezes, three squeezes, four squeezes. Snake could feel Morpheus' neck growing weaker. A few more squeezes, and Snake would break his neck. Morpheus, dropped to his knees and smashed his head backwards into Snake's jaw, forcing Snake to release him.

Morpheus rested on one knee, struggling to catch his breath.

Snake sat on his wallet.

"You," Morpheus started in between gasps, "you are as good as they say."

Before Snake could spit a reply, Morpheus stood and shouted.

"Start the jump program."

In an instant, the background changed from a dojo to the rooftop of a sky scraper.

"What the hell?"

"It's simple, Snake. Make it to the other side."

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?"

Morpheus brought to fingers up and tapped his temple, "Free your mind."

Then Morpheus turned, broke into a sprint for a mere second, then leapt high in the air. He landed on the second tower.

Snake's eyes narrowed.

"Some VR."

Then he broke into a full sprint.

- - -

"He's not going to make it."

"Trinity, there's something about him I can't put my finger on. He might do it."

"No one ever makes the first jump, Neo."

"I know, Trinity. He might."

Their eyes were glued to the monitor as they could see Snake break into a sprint.

- - -

Snake let out a grunt as he leapt into the air with all his might. The only thing going through his mind was making it to the other side; especially if that would help him complete his mission, whatever that was. Snake never failed a mission. It looked as if Snake were going to plummet, when he reached out and grabbed the edge of the rooftop. With every ounce of strength, Snake pulled himself up on to the rooftop and stood tall. His bandana flowed in the wind. He'd cleared the gaping expanse between the two sky scrapers.

- - -

Trinity looked at Neo in horrific surprise. Then they looked at each other and exchanged glances that said the same thing: "He is the One."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 **

Apparitions of various dreams flooded into his mind. Visions of people and places he remembered. Grey Fox, Big Boss, Colonel Campbell, Zanzibar... and her. Suddenly he felt a cold feeling trickle down his spine and then his world turned white. Completely vastless, devoid of life. He looked around, realizing he had entered a dimension full of nothing but emptiness and more emptiness.

Snake looked around, with the only friend by his side the SOCOM clutched tightly to his grasp. His head began to spin and then suddenly everything around him froze. He could hear a voice. At first, it was far but then it loomed closer and at that point it became clearly audible.

"Mister Hayter," boomed the grim yet serene tone of the mysterious voice.

"Who the hell are you?" Snake shouted.

"Patience, Mister Hayter. You will find out soon enough what this is all about." The voice disappeared as the lone agent tried to figure out where the voice had been coming from him. Nothing since these last few days had been making sense to him. Nothing at all. Maybe this mysterious voice could have an explanation. Or so he hoped.

The world around Snake suddenly changed with the appearance of the same Brooklyn Bridge flooded back into view. The same spot where he decided not to jump off onto the tanker below. He looked around as his clothes had a new trench coat covering him, the same one he wore only a few days ago. He reached inside his pocket, finding a pair of cigarettes. He put it back and looked around as rain started to come down.

There was a certain sense of nostalgia that overcame the ex-FoxHound member, something that he could feel would bring nothing but more trouble upon him. "Mr. Hayter, you had a choice did you not?" the voice boomed again, this time covering the noise of the rain. It felt as if someone had been speaking to him telepathically.

"You had a choice whether or not you were going to jump off this bridge and go on to the tanker below and yet you chose not to. Any particular reason?"

"Who wants to know?"

"Mister Hayter. You have no one to kid but yourself. I know everything and anything about you already. The incident on Zanzibar. The deaths of Grey Fox and Big Boss. You're wondering what ever happened to your master, or the Colonel. But most important of all... you're thinking about her, aren't you?"

Snake remained silent.

The world around him, the Brooklyn Bridge, suddenly faded into another white room. But instead, the new one he had entered consisted mainly of televion screens set up in a circle around the perimeter of the room. In front of him was desk and a chair which now seated a rather old man.

"Where the hell am I now?" Snake finally asked, breaking the silence that permitted between them. "And who are you?"

The old man sat up. "I am the architect. Welcome to my world, Solid Snake."

"What do you mean your world? " snarled the agent.

"I am the architect, the creator of the Matrix. You see, this is the seventh time I've recreated the Matrix, except this time-- something went wrong. Snake, you were an anomoly. Out of your own intricate Matrix system that we had set aside for a special control group, you seeped through the actual Matrix. A mistake, a flaw."

Snake did not have an utter clue what the old man was talking about. He would have to ask Morpheus about it later so he took note and just listened.

"I'm not part of this half-assed world then," Snake muttered. "Figures."

"But," the architect pointed out. "There is no cause without reason. You were thrown here for a reason. And that reason is up for you to find out."

Finally Snake understood. "To stop the Matrix."

"You think you can, you know you can, but your choices will have to depend on how that will work."

"I don't see how this will affect me," Snake snapped back.

The archetect smiled. "Have you forgotten about ... her?"

He fell silent and waited as the architect continued to talk. "She might be a part of this world Snake. You might be able to save her... but then again, will you abandon those who seek help from you at the most dire time?"

Snake grimaced. "What the hell have you done with her?"

The architect looked up at the ceiling for a moment and then shifted his attention back to Snake. "My time is up, but the choice is left to you, Solid Snake." With that said, everything suddenly disappeared from him and he felt a cold stab at the back of his neck.

Snake's eyes shot open, only realizing later that he had just jacked out of the Matrix. "What the hell just happened?" he shouted gruffly.

Trinity bent down besides him. "You were ... stuck in the Matrix, Snake. Right after you jumped, we thought we had lost you. Tank couldn't find your neural patterns until up to two seconds ago. We jacked you out automatically. We were hoping you could tell us what the hell just happened."

Snake sat up, remembering what he had just heard from his mysterios encounter. He looked up at the others. "Have you ever heard of the architect?"

Trinity, Morpheus and Neo quickly exchanged glances and then stared at the man still attired in the trademark sneaking suit. "You've... heard of the architect?" Neo asked with a gulp, not really wanting to hear the answer.

The agent looked up at the others, pausing to take note of their facial expressions. "He spoke to me just before. It was like-- like a dream sequence. He said that I had two choices; something about choosing to save your world or one to save... this person I once knew."

"Did you choose?" Morpheus asked impatiently.

"No," Snake replied.

"What could this all mean?" Trinity asked the others, wondering if they could think of some reasonable answer. "We went through hell just to get Neo to talk with the architect and Snake meets him... in a dream sequence."

"What's all this supposed to mean?" Snake shot back.

Neo grimaced, folding his arms. "There's no question about it. We have to take him to the Oracle."


End file.
